Attack of the Saucer Morons
"Attack of the Saucer Morons" is the 1st segment in the 5th episode of the first season of Invader Zim. It first premiered on April 27, 2001, on Nickelodeon. Summary Zim attempts to test some of Earth's defenses by taking his Voot out for a drive to monitor local police units. However, when a bumblebee collides with his viewscreen, Zim comes crashing down in the park. When GIR does not respond when Zim calls for him, Zim decides to go home and get his Voot the next day, using a recovery vehicle disguised as a giant, floating pig. Unfortunately, by the time Zim gets back to his ship, a group of people who worship aliens known as the Children of the Bright and Shining Saucer, or the Saucer Morons, have reached it first. Zim joins the group in hopes of stealing it back, but, by the time he completes the initiation, his recovery vehicle has been found as well. Fed up with subtlety, Zim tries to take the Cruiser back by force, but accidentally blows his cover. The Saucer Morons capture Zim and hold him in a tent so they can worship him. Zim, being paranoid, is more worried about being dissected, so he calls for GIR again and, this time, gets an answer. GIR disguises himself as an agent from the government (basically piloting a robotic suit in the style of super sentai shows), and tells the Saucer Morons that Zim's ship, recovery vehicle, and Zim himself were all "experimental government aircrafts". They start to believe him until GIR falls out of the suit. GIR and Zim quickly escape on the pig, only to run into the 'death' bee and crash into another alien convention nearby. How they manage to escape is left unexplained as the episode ends. Facts of Doom Cultural References *The beginning of the episode is a possible parody of the Val Johnson Incident. Trivia *This title is the seventh and final episode to use the squiggly Invader ZIM font. Since "The Wettening", the official Invader Zim font was instead used. *This is the last episode in which Zim has four fingers, all following ones he will have the standard three. *In the "Top 100 Greatest Moments In Nicktoon History", this episode is ranked #63. *There is a saucer moron who bears a keen likeness to Dib; this character has been branded as "Adult Dib". He appears when the pig bites on his head, and in the crowd of the saucer morons. Jhonen has not commented on whether he planned this character as an adult Dib or not. *When Zim is escaping on his Voot Cruiser disguised as a pig, it flips over and immerses him in water, though he experiences no pain from this. This is even more perplexing since this episode airs with "The Wettening", the episode where it is revealed that water is lethal to Zim. *The commentary for the "Doom Doom Doom" DVD states that five characters died in the episode. *When Zim is taking his pig to where the Voot crashed, he whistled a tune called "I'm Bringing Home a Baby Bumble Bee". *In the episode, he strangely calls his ship the 'Voot Runner', though in every other episode, it is called the 'Voot Cruiser'. When he spots the smoked ship after GIR dances in a dance club, he refers to it as the 'cruiser'. *This episode is the third where Dib and Gaz do not appear. The first is "Walk of Doom" and the second is "Germs". However, the character nicknamed Adult Dib appears in the group with the saucer morons. *Despite Professor Membrane not appearing in this episode and "The Wettening", Rodger Bumpass is still credited, which implies that he may have appeared in either episode originally but the scene was cut for time. Things You Might Have Missed *When three teenage girls drop off GIR at Zim's house, a crash can be heard in the background. The three teenage girls could possibly have been three of the five characters who have died in the episode. *One of the girls resembles Devi D. from Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, one of Vasquez's earlier works. * When Zim starts up the "pig" you can hear a loud snorting sound. *Jhonen Vasquez makes a cameo in this episode as one of the Saucer Morons. He is visible in the tent when GIR rescues Zim on the right side of the crowd. When Zim and GIR leave the tent, he can be seen again outside. *Steve Ressel made two cameos in this episode. He can be seen in the tent in the second row on the right side. Later, he saves the baby that resembles Stewie from Zim's Voot Cruiser disguised as a pig. *Rikki Simons made a cameo in this episode as one of the saucer morons. He can be seen with the crowd of saucer morons on the left side. *After Zim tells GIR to listen very very very very very very very very carefully, when GIR says "What?", GIR has teeth. Changes & Cuts *Zim's initiation ceremony was originally going to be shown, but was later cut because of the episode's time constraints. Inconsistencies and Animation Errors *When the crowd first picks up Zim and carries him, he still has his trenchcoat on, though in the next scene when he calls for GIR, his trenchcoat is missing. *At one point in the episode, when Zim says "Release the pig!", the chihuahua is gray instead of brown. *When the saucer morons go toward Zim once they find out he's an alien, in the shot that shows the back of Zim's head, Zim's eyes are white, like they are when he has his contacts on. They go back to normal in the next shot. *When Zim recoils from the chihuahua, he doesn't have his gloves on, and his green hands are shown. *When Zim sees his Voot Cruiser on the stand with the saucer morons around it, Zim's mouth can be seen through. *In this episode, Zim sometimes has four fingers. This happens when he's sitting on a chair in a tent at the UFO convention and when he lifts up his hand in the tent and the saucer morons excitedly gasp. *When Zim and GIR are flying on the Voot Cruiser disguised as a pig, Zim's mouth disappears in many frames when he laughs in an evil manner. *When Zim turns around as he says he "shall hunt down that evil death bee," his left and right antennae switch places. Music Main Article: The Kevin Manthei Invader Zim-phony Special *UFO *Happy Bee *Sneak Home *Escape on the Pig *Killer Bee **This track is on the partial release only, and is a compilation of UFO and Happy Bee. See also *Attack of the Saucer Morons (Transcript) *Attack of the Saucer Morons/Screenshots es:El ataque de los enagenados Category:Season 1 Category:Episodes Category:Altered Episodes Category:Screenshots